Neighbours have no blinds

[FaFoutis]

My neighbours at the back have built a huge glass extension, the size of a petrol station, and it is lit up with bright white light. They have no blinds (they said they can't put blinds in it) so I have watched them have their breakfast and dinner and had the white glare all winter.

At the moment the woman is putting away the dishes from dinner wearing a pink tracksuit. I can see this from 5 of my 6 windows. It used to be dark and private before this eyesore and I'm finding it so depressing. The woman who lives next door but one to me has the same view, she talked to me about it and she cried. So not just me.

What should I do?
Option 1. Aim to piss them off so much that they get blinds (I don't believe the blind thing). I don't know how though. Install faulty security lights in my back garden? Get a massive sign that says 'get some fucking blinds'?
Option 2. Somehow screen them off. Their house is raised above mine and the extension is huge so I can't think how.
Option 3. Get therapy to stop being bothered by it.

I do shut the curtains, but there the fucker is again when I open the curtains.

I don’t know, Sali but I can ask the OP for you.

‘Scuse me, OP, do you live in your garden at night or do you just want to enjoy it in peace?

I can't on to say YABU as I have no blinds or curtains at the back of my house but if it's that bad & they are so uncaring YANBU.

Asda has some v large gnomes for about £20 odd. You could put a few of them on a large podium & maybe give them them a (gruesome) makeover & point them in neighbours direction. Maybe then they will pay for planting & screening on their land so you don't have to

Well Chardonnays, the funny thing is that I did used to live in the garden at night. I used to work in a shed in the garden late at night (marking essays usually, I'm a lecturer). When the eyesore was built I could no longer do that because of the glare and the fact that by sitting in my shed I was now facing them over their dinner table. I had an extension built on the front of my house as a study instead.
Now I just want to enjoy my garden, and indeed, the 5 rooms at the back of my house, in peace.
I hope that answers Sali's question.

I just know if I had a problem with neighbours, I'd screen them off in anyway possible, be it curtains, blinds, hedging.

I just don't get why my question on curtains gets such sarcasm.

It's fascinating that someone mentioned upthread that their neighbours liked being watched.

Ours have progressed to stripping down to underwear (large and flesh coloured) and ummmm bending over/wriggling.
The crazy thing is we have plenty of space to plant trees and as they built right up to our boundary will soon be living in a woodland.

I'm a gardener so ask away about tree planting.

I would recommend Silver birch as sometimes a deciduous screen mixed with evergreens is better. Birch are very quick (quicker than Leylandii) and can be used as a "nurse" crop to bring up other species especially if windy.

They are also very cheap to buy even at 10 feet tall if you plant bare rooted (rather than in a pot) but it's right at the end of the season for that so you'd have to be quick.

If you PM me a rough area I could find a supplier/price very easily.

Hello SAHGardener

How can I stop my tree from leaning? It’s already staked into the ground.

@Triglesoffy that's quite an established tree by the look of it.
Firstly does it have enough movement in it when you try to physically pull it into the right position?
If so great, I would then use a very long and soft tie system (probably home made, old towels cut into ribbons and tied together?)
Put another low stake in the ground a few meters away to the right.
Tie onto the tree up high just under the crown where the branches start, infact possibly around a branch too to get a good grip then gently pull towards the stake and attach.

Every couple of days get someone to push the tree and tighten up the tie until straight.

You should only need this in place for 18months and tree won't move then.

The mirror suggestion is genius!

Thanks! Something for the DH to do at the weekends!

Did OP answer your question, Sali?

You know, whoever I go on holiday one of the first things I notice at night are the stars.
You can’t see the stars on London anymore and when you think you do it usually turns out to be a plane.

I don’t think planning takes into consideration light pollution, especially with the current trend for lots of glass, and they ought to.

Have PMed you SAHG, thanks.
Great advice about the leaning tree too. I planted a cotoneaster tree to try to hide the eyesore but it slowly leaned away, as if it could not cope with the hideousness. I know how to pull it back now.

I do hope you weren’t implying OP was s badger or some creature of the night and I hope you are relieved she is, in fact, a lecturer.

I like the mirror idea too. I initially thought of a big cricket score board type thing with mirror backing, but then I realised that such a thing did not exist.

I could come and visit with DDog she would bark at them every time they barked...

Obviously she would be outside

I do like the mirror idea!

Screen it off with bamboo plants. They grow quickly and you can buy already mature specimens.

How close can you fly a drone? Maybe pretend the drone is filming them, it might freak them out enough to change their minds about blinds

Mirror idea is great. I look forward to the ‘My CF neighbour has put a MASSIVE mirror in her garden and now I need a some new tracksuits’ thread in S&B.

Haven't read the thread, sorry if repeating but the light if on all the time during night etc then it could be considered a nuisance (much like noise can be). It would be worth contacting environmental health (this is the department who would likely deal with this issue).

I agree with you. It's not very pleasant to see the inside of your neighbours house every time you open your curtains. Dimming the lights is the least bit of curtsey they can show to others as without blinds it will glare into other people's houses which is annoying. If they know how they are affecting other people then I would suggest talking to other neighbours who all sit together and watch them at the same time in their own respective houses. Make it like an entertainment show . Enjoy it if you can't get rid of it

I also like the mirror idea. Would be better if they get all the glare back at them when you close your windows!

Don't do lleylandii, they're a nightmare and they'll deplete your soil as well as light. They'll eventually need managing which is a pita.

I'm a big fan of pleached laurel although it's not super cheap - it's evergreen.

Yes to the silver birches as well although they are deciduous.

How long is your garden? The trick with screening is to layer it, space permitting. Have some taller stuff midway up the garden to draw your eye. Make sure you have a good mix of evergreen as well as deciduous.

Do you have space for a garden arch etc? Create divisions ('rooms') and pockets of interest in your garden where possible so you're not looking straight down to the end.

Bamboo is a pita. You have to make sure you have the clumping one or else it will shoot off in all directions and start coming up everywhere.

I can sympathise as I have excessively loud and brightly lit direct neighbours myself - in a small terrace no less. 30+ adjacent houses make normal amounts of noise (I'm live and let live honestly) but these bastards take it to another level.

Gosh, did someone suggest a giant mirror? Because that is absolute genius!!

Can you make a case for light pollution or somesuch?

You need to do it together with your neighbours, add weight with numbers.

I can't bear these boxes, I think you have to be a thundering narcissist to want yourself and your living space to be on show in this way, as well as spectacularly inconsiderate?

@FaFoutis - could you invite them round one evening, to see how badly their lights and extension are affecting you and your quality of life? Maybe if they see it firsthand, they will accept the need to do something about it?

COuld be worse, I think one poster ages ago had nieghbours who shagged in the outside jacuzzi and they could see. be thankful all you see is chores